Children often bear the worst of our challenges, and our disagreements. When Alabama public schools shut down in response to the coronavirus pandemic, we saw (again) that the promise of education is not equally available to all young people. Many government-run school administrators were unable to deliver education to the children within their districts. At […]

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will create fundamental changes in the way industry, retailers, education systems, and average citizens perform tasks that were previously considered routine. This social evolution will occur at an increasing pace as the effects of social distancing and other virus prevention directives continue to modify traditional ways of life in […]

Although it has been lost in the tumult of the current news cycle, Alabama continues to grapple with problems plaguing the state’s prison system. Early in 2019, the Department of Justice warned the state that its prisons violated the Eighth Amendment. Since then, the governor’s office and the Alabama legislature have vowed to address the […]

MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Governor Kay Ivey today announced that Alabama Pellets LLC, a subsidiary of Canada-based Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc., plans to invest $95 million to construct a wood pellet production facility in Demopolis. The Alabama Pellets facility is expected to have an annual production volume of 360,000 metric tons and will start initial industrial wood pellet […]

One of America’s largest egg producers donated 280,800 eggs to help feed Alabama’s least fortunate citizens last week. The donation was made by Cal-Maine foods, founded and headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, a company that by some measures accounts for a quarter of all egg consumption in the United States. Cal-Maine operates a facility in the […]

7. New York has issued another health order that involves Alabama  If you’re planning on traveling to New York from a state with a high coronavirus infection rate, you’ll be required to fill out a form to provide contact information and travel plans upon your arrival. Otherwise, you could face a $2,000 fine, as announced […]

A man from Alabama’s Rocket City completed last week a 1,000-mile walk from his hometown to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in honor of George Floyd and the larger struggle for racial equality in America. Terry Willis has used the publicity from his march to help raise tens of thousands of dollars via a GoFundMe page. He says […]

President Donald Trump on Monday evening held a telephone town hall with former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville ahead of Alabama’s primary runoff Election Day on Tuesday. Trump has endorsed Tuberville in the Republican U.S. Senate runoff against former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions was Trump’s first attorney general after being an […]

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been attached to the top of the Alabama-built rocket that will send it toward the Red Planet in the coming weeks. NASA and Yellowhammer State rocket-builder United Launch Alliance (ULA) recently updated the mission’s launch period, which is the range of days the rocket can launch to reach Mars. It […]

Altimmune, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has announced positive results from the preclinical studies conducted in mice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham of its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AdCOVID. The studies — a collaboration between UAB and the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Altimmune — showed strong serum neutralizing activity and potent mucosal IgA immunity in the respiratory […]

In the waning days of the campaign, Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl has added the endorsements of four prominent elected officials in the southwest Alabama congressional district he seeks to represent. State Reps. Chip Brown (R-Hollinger’s Island) and Shane Stringer (R-Citronelle) threw their support behind Carl last week, followed by Daphne Mayor Dane Haygood and […]

Steve Savarese, executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), will lead the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) starting next year. A Monday release announced that Savarese was elected by the NFHS board of directors to the position of president-elect for the term spanning July 2, 2020 — July 2021. Savarese’s […]

The two candidates in Alabama’s other statewide race, a seat on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, are making their cases to Alabama Republicans ahead of Tuesday’s primary runoff election. Judge Beth Kellum, the incumbent in the race, is asking voters for a third term after first being elected in 2008. She is stressing her […]

Six players who star at Yellowhammer State universities have been named to the 2020 Bednarik Award Preseason Watch List. The announcement was made Monday by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia, which has presented the Chuck Bednarik Award annually since 1995 to the top defensive player in college football. The award is named in honor of former […]

7. Kids have to go back to school Schools across the country will have to reopen for in-class instruction for the fall semester, according to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, even though some states are still concerned over coronavirus cases.  DeVos said “kids cannot afford to not continue learning,” adding that it’s “not a matter of […]

The U.S. Supreme Court recently delivered a “big win” for school choice and religious freedom. School choice enables competition, which economists find generally improves the quality of goods and services. I believe that this result will apply to education, and specifically public schools. Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue involved 2015 legislation allowing tax-deductible contributions […]

Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Alabama Democratic Executive Committee member Lisa Handback take you through this week’s biggest political stories, including: — Will Governor Kay Ivey consider a statewide mask ordinance as more municipalities adopt ordinances and pressure continues to mount? — Are parents going to feel safe sending their kids to school […]

Sisters Allie Corcoran and Cassie Young loved growing up on a farm in Eufaula, but once they left home and earned their degrees at Auburn University, they realized their hearts were still at the family farm. “I always knew I wanted to come home and be part of the farm, but I didn’t know where I […]

Sportscasting is a tough business for anyone, but has been traditionally even more difficult for women. That’s why the change in direction for Rachel Baribeau won’t make sense … until you hear her explain it. “I am always evolving – as a woman, as a queen, as a daughter and a friend and as a […]

Walmart’s seventh annual Open Call is underway for entrepreneurs dreaming of landing U.S.-manufactured products on Walmart shelves by successfully pitching their wares to company officials during online meetings. “Walmart’s Annual Open Call event gives us a unique occasion to identify new suppliers who can meet our customers’ needs with unique and innovative products manufactured or produced in […]

Just about everybody likes dogs. Even virtual dogs. At UAB Hospital, dogs from Hand in Paw are used as therapy for patients and health care workers alike. So what happens when the novel coronavirus pandemic shuts down in-person visitation from Hand in Paw’s volunteer humans and dogs? You take the show on the road virtually, via telemedicine. […]

Brock Murphy was enjoying spring break on the Gulf Coast with friends, briefly leaving behind the worries of starting a new business. Burn Nutrition opened its doors Feb. 1, and the owner/operator of Auburn’s latest health café needed some time to unwind. Then COVID-19 changed everything. “It was tough,” recalled Murphy, a junior in the Department of Supply […]

Lynn Morris of Talladega was especially motivated to be among the first customers at the Presbyterian Home for Children’s inaugural three-day summer sale today. She and her husband, Terry, have served as foster parents for children taken in by the Home’s program for homeless children and know firsthand the value of the ministry. “It’s concern about […]

From the ever-expanding Red Rock Trail System to protecting the habitat of the endangered vermilion darter on Turkey Creek, the Freshwater Land Trust both cares and caretakes. “We own and manage 7,000 acres of Alabama land,” Executive Director Rusha Smith said. “We visit that land on a regular basis to ensure nothing negative is affecting the water species, the flora, fauna […]